Oscar Update 4/30/18

Thank you so much to our supporters who sent donations for Oscar’s fundraiser / latest trip to the vet so we can get to the bottom of his issues (and Rosie’s too), namely his weight loss and increased seizures.

With the money you generously donated we were able get senior wellness checks for both pugs, blood work, and urine testing done. Poor Occy wasn’t giving up any blood, not even when they tried poking his jugular vein, but they got just enough to check his key organ functions.

Before we even left for the vet visit I captured a urine sample on both pugs and immediately noticed the dark orange color of Oscar’s compared to Rosie’s normal yellow had me very concerned. Dark urine can mean a number of things including liver issues which is something we always fear with Oscar because long-term administration of Phenobarbital (that he takes for his epilepsy) can cause hepatic injury in dogs. So far we have done a great job counteracting this for Oscar with daily milk thistle and dandelion root liver detoxification – but there is always a concern that a point may come when things can progress beyond what holistic measures can continue to prevent.

I want to be 100% transparent to our supporters and share Oscar’s report card from today, our plan for next steps, and the estimate we got for the upcoming treatment plan for both Oscar and Rosie.

The GREAT and honestly surprising news we got from the blood work today is that Occy’s liver and kidney functions are 100% normal. Again, TOTALLY shocked in a good way by this, but another true testament to the wonders that natural herbs and supplements can provide.

So why is Occy so thin?? The vet and I both have a strong hunch that due to his mouth and teeth issues, there is a bacterial infection that may be a source of increased metabolism in his body. Hence, why he is eating several x a day and not able to put on weight. It could also be the reason why his seizure frequency has increased.

Now because of Oscar’s chronic respiratory issues, and seizure disorder, and the fact that he is a pug – it’s risky for him to go under anesthesia and that’s why we have been putting it off doing a dental on him.

Our first step is to start Occy on an antibiotic (Cindamycin) tonight! And see how he responds. I’m also going to start giving him goats milk and cottage cheese to add weight. This won’t be a problem because we happen to have a pregnant goat on the farm who I’m sure will be happy to donate some of her milk to help her Occy bro out!

The next step, as scary as it is , would be to proceed with the dental. We have the procedure booked for both Oscar and Rosie (whose teeth are even worse!) to undergo dentals at the end of May. This will give us time to see how Occy responds to the antibiotics and hopefully get some weight on him to make him stronger.

It will also give us some time to raise more funds. I’ve attached estimates for both procedures and we’re looking at $2,852 on the high end. I really believe both pugs will be so much healthier afterward and that Occy is strong enough to go through this, but we need your help!

If you can chip in even a little to help make these senior babies well again, please consider a donation. If you can’t donate, please share! Thank you again for supporting Oscar and our mission.